Aqua Lounge Bocas del Toro

I rang in the start of my solo travels and the first week of 2008 in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Added to the week I spent there with my sister, my stay was 17 days.

The Bocas Archipelago has five main islands, but I spent the majority of my time on Isla Colon, which has the biggest town, and on Carineros, which is where my hostel and the surf break were. While Carineros is very small and has limited food options, you can take a water taxi to Colon and be in town in under a minute. Two Brazilians and I swam across one morning to provide some entertainment- i.e. something to gamble on- and won 30 dollars by making it in under 4 minutes.

The hostel on Carineros was called Aqua Lounge. It is one of those amazing yet simple ideas dreamed of by young people everywhere that usually go to die when explained to ones lawyer and insurance agent. Luckily things are not so in Panama. Aqua Lounge is a genius combination bar and hostel right on the water, that sleeps 22 people, and sells dollar beers and shots right next to an eight foot diving board going off the roof into the Caribbean. There are hammocks, a BBq, a deck for partying and porch for hammocks, and even a huge water trampoline for laying out. Everyone parties to Spanish Reggae music and slips and slides around the crowded dance floor/deck during the day. I mostly surfed, but it was amusing to come back to the hostel and find 60 Panamanian revelers grinding on your front porch.

There was a core group of foreigners who weathered the Panama City invasion over New Years, and we did our own fair share of partying and often ended up mixing it up Reggae style with the locals.

I hit the waves with most often with two buddies; Ryan, a San Diego State grad, and Guillerme, a Brazilian surf event organizer. You always took a boat to surf so it was much more fun and economical to head out with a friend. We surfed a reef point break that generated quick, sometimes barreling lefts. It was not the easiest wave, my feet got cut on the reef, but it forced me to work on getting down the line faster on my backside.

Some highlights from the 10 days at Aqua Lounge

10. Playing poker and blackjack with a pack of Portuguese gamblers who reminded me of gypsies
9. Watching Jason, the lounges longest staying guest, try to take a live kitten to bed with him after his completion of the 23 bar challenge
8. Ripping gainers off the roof diving board into the Caribbean
7. Grilling fresh fish on the BBq speared by our Brazilian friends
6. Racing the Brazilians in the much gambled on inter-island swim
5. New Years Eve: shooting vodka at the lounge, watching the fireworks in town from the bar, and promising to speak only in Spanish all night
4. Roberto who folds your boxers and makes your bed; not bad for a hostel
3. Jumping off the top deck of the party boat and swimming home after realizing we were the only partygoers on it
2. Tanya, the Iguana bartender, who looks like a Victoria Secrets model but take waves like Kelly Slater
1. Aqua Lounge’s free breakfast of pancakes, bread, butter, cheese, coffee, sugar, jam, milk, and chocolate sauce.

My home for ten days

The dorms, my bunk is the top left

Aqua Lounge owner Christian and bar tenders Andrea and Fabio

The Brazilian spear fishermen enjoy their feast . . .

. . . and the gypys Portuguese scavenge the leftovers

Party on the deck

Our new years party crew

Bocas seemed like a great place to be young; like camp

Ryan, Guillerme, and I watching surf videos



Guillerme and I about to jump in for some surf; luckily the water is warmer than the rain

Surfing my backside on a characteristic left